Bernard Pierce

Bernard Pierce

The Ravens have found their running back and his name is Bernard Pierce. It wasn't so pretty as halftime hit, but he finished well. Pierce carried the ball 22 times for 96 yards, a 4.4 yard per carry average. If he was able to score, it would have finished as an excellent night. He also added a reception for seven yards.

Justin Forsett finished with eight carries for 56 yards, and had a nice four reception night for 16 yards.

Pyro's take: Its clear that Bernard Pierce is more for standard leagues, while Forsett is made out of PPR material. So, don't look for Justin Forsett to get many carries as 8-10 is probably a max for him, instead look for him to come into passing situations and third downs.

While being tackled by Redskins corner back Brandon Meriweather, Pierce suffered concussion like symptoms and was taken to the locker room after doctors checked him out on the sidelines. Pierce suffered the injury when Meriweather blitzed and met Pierce almost immediately after he took a handoff from Joe Flacco. There was no penalty on the hit.

Bernard Pierce has gone on his twitter account to announce that “If anyone was wondering, I’m fine,” Pierce wrote Sunday on his official Twitter account. Pierce, who has rushed for 89 yards and one touchdown on 21 carries in the preseason, is expected to be ready for the Ravens’ regular-season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sept. 7 at M&T Bank Stadium.

UpDate: Bernard Pierce has suffered a mild concussion due to the hit from Meriweather. Pierce will now have to pass all tests to be declared safe to return, due to NFL protocol. He was not on the list to play this week, so this gives him extra time to get ready for week one. Meriweather will be suspended for two games for the hit.

Pyro's take: This does not appear like a long lasting situation for Pierce, which is good news for owners, as he should be the lone ball carrier against the Bengals and Steelers for the first two weeks, which could parlay into a starting gig if he does well.

With running back Ray Rice suspended for the first two games of the 2014 NFL season, Bernard Pierce will get the starting nod at home against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 1 and again at home against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 2. If he does well versus those two inner-division rivals, it's conceivable Pierce could keep the job throughout the remainder of the season.

If you're looking for a nice sleeper this season who likely won't cost you more than a 9th-round pick in 12-man leagues and 11th-round pick in 10-man leagues, you might not do much better than Mr. Pierce. Kubiak's offensive scheme has brought rushing titles to two different running backs over the years; Terrell Davis (1998, in Denver) and Arian Foster (2010, in Houston).

Despite last year's injury-caused bomb (torn rotator cuff), Bernard has shown the ability to be a lead back in this league - in the five career games (including playoffs) where he's carried the ball 13 or more times, Pierce put up a total of 437 rushing yards with two 100-yard games and two TDs.

The Baltimore Ravens are about two weeks from starting training camp, and they have no idea on how long running back Ray Rice will be unavailable to begin the season.

The NFL needs to make a decision soon because the league shouldn't punish the Ravens along with Rice, who is expected to receive a multi-game suspension for allegedly striking his fiancée unconscious in February. The Ravens' workload at running back will be based on the length of Rice's absence.

If Rice is going to miss a major chunk of the season, the Ravens would give Bernard Pierce, Justin Forsett and Lorenzo Taliaferro more snaps this summer, especially later in the preseason. If Rice is only going to be suspended for a couple of games, the Ravens' rotation at running back may not change significantly.

Pyro's take: We all know that Rice is going to be suspended, but the NFL is sure taking their sweet time letting any results out. Pierce has the most to gain if Rice misses 4-6 games, and would have a good chance to establish himself as a major offensive contributor in that time, allowing him to retain touches upon Rice's return.

Pierce did not produce like he was expected to last season, but the Ravens have more weapons on offense this season than they did last year. Bernard has something to prove, and he knows he will get his chance with the Rice suspension, and the longer the better for Pierce.

The Ravens are standing behind embattled running back Ray Rice -- for now, at least -- after police say he struck his fiancee in the face during a domestic dispute in Atlantic City over the weekend. But even if the Ravens keep Rice around, he could face discipline from the NFL, which is investigating the incident.

The 23-year-old running back is coming off a sophomore season in which he was actually less efficient than Rice, which is saying a lot considering Rice averaged just 3.1 yards per carry. Pierce averaged 2.9. Only former Ravens running back Willis McGahee averaged fewer yards per carry.

As a rookie, Pierce was electric in limited action, rushing for 532 yards on 108 carries -- an average of 4.9 yards per carry -- and a touchdown in relief of Rice during the regular season. He continued to perform well during the playoffs, including a 103-yard rushing performance in a wild-card win over the Indianapolis Colts.

Pierce ran with a purpose that season, displaying good vision and surprising burst for a bigger back -- he is six feet and 220 pounds -- to break free into the open field.

Last season, though, he often looked tentative and appeared to be especially indecisive on stretch zone plays where he was asked to wait for a crease to open as he ran laterally toward the sideline. Those plays, which didn’t seem to fit his skill set, often ended with him getting buried behind the line of scrimmage.

Pyro's take: Ray Rice and his legal issues have presented Bernard Pierce with the opportunity to be the man in Baltimore. This is a second chance for Pierce, who struggled big time last season. To be fair, the entire Ravens offense was in disarray last season.

Baltimore should be able to restock their offense giving them more weapons in 2014. That is a must, as the loss of Anquan Boldin showed up huge on a weekly basis. There needs to be a more consistent passing attack in order to force defense to stop stacking the box against their running game.

Pierce was compared to Matt Forte heading into last season, but he failed to show Forte's ability in the receiving game. Ray's misfortune will give him Bernard a second chance. Don't blow it kid.

According to Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun, running back Bernard Pierce has a strained calf.

Pyro's take: This is explains the poor performance for Pierce yesterday who only had 4 carries for 7 yards against the Bills. It is unclear how bad this injury is, but it comes at a bad time as Pierce had a chance to steal a lot of carries from Ray Rice who was coming back from injury. This is still going to be a committee backfield going forward, but if Pierce misses any time Rice's value goes back up.

After a real nice showing of toughness and all-around play his rookie season, Bernard Pierce should see a decent uptick on his 108 carries from last year and push Ray Rice for even more playing time this season.

Pyro's take: We like Pierce as a sleeper this season, but it would take an injury to Rice for him to have more than handcuff value. However, it will be interesting to see much how the loss of All-Pro fullback Vonta Leach combined with a super-tough RB strength of schedule affects Rice in 2013. The Ravens could end up needing and using Pierce's overall grit as a runner more often on early downs, though Rice will still undoubtedly be amongst the league leaders in catches out of the backfield once again. Because of all this, it's very possible Rice falls out of the Top-10 fantasy backs this season.